Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, July 15

 

To view a complete story, click on a headline below:

 

New property insurers lead to lower rates

Firms picking up business shed by larger competitors.

At least 14 new Florida-based property insurers doing business in metro Orlando are offering something rare in today’s economy: lower prices.

Governor Charlie Crist Meets with Lloyd’s of London, Discusses Reinsurance and Climate Change

Governor Charlie Crist today met with Lord Levene, the chairman of Lloyd’s of London to discuss reinsurance issues in Florida, as well as Lloyd’s climate change initiatives.  The meeting occurred during the Team Florida Trade and Business Development Mission to the United Kingdom, France, Russia and Spain. Also in attendance were Florida House of Representatives Speaker Designate Ray Sansom and Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

Naples Cay residents could soon be eligible for federal flood insurance

U.S. Representatives passed legislation Monday, correcting a federal mapping error that has prevented Naples Cay residents from participating in the Federal Flood Insurance Program.

Uninsured receive VIP treatment in health-care pact

Patricia Bittiker has been able to obtain medical coverage recently through a concierge medical practice. She is standing in front of her mobile home in West Palm Beach Monday.

Disability claims ‘backlog is the worst in Florida’

When diabetes made it impossible for Shelly Burke to continue working, she applied for Social Security Disability benefits. It would take eight years before she saw a penny. As time went by, she struggled to feed herself, a daughter and a granddaughter and to keep a roof over their heads.

Shands ranks highest among Florida hospitals

Reputation, patient mortality and ability to handle difficult situations were among the factors considered in ranking 5,453 hospitals.

Tenet pays $2 million over delay in stroke treatment

Tenet Healthcare Corp. has paid nearly $2 million to settle a malpractice lawsuit filed by the family of a Boca Raton woman who died in 2004 after two of its hospitals failed to find a neurosurgeon to treat her stroke.

Progress Energy gets OK for Fla. nuclear plants

Central Florida’s largest power provider, Progress Energy, won approval Tuesday from a state regulatory agency to build two new nuclear power plants.

State panel approves FPL solar plants

Offering effusive praise, state regulators Tuesday morning unanimously supported Florida Power & Light’s proposal to build the first commercial-scale solar plants in Florida.

Florida critics blast president’s offshore drilling plan

Environmentalists blasted an announcement today by President George W. Bush that he would lift a ban on offshore drilling in hopes of spurring Congress to do the same.

DNC picks Tallahassee Commissioner Katz for platform committee

One of Sen. Barack Obama’s earliest Florida supporters will play a big role in shaping the Democratic Party’s presidential campaign platform.

Varn continues fight for ballot spot

That old unwritten rule of schoolyard basketball — “No harm, no foul” — might not be law, but it’s fair game in politics, Democrat Fred Varn argued Monday in trying for a political comeback.

COLUMN:  Blame political climate for our ailing paradise

Our original Time magazine obit was bloodier.

Georgia Pacific: Palatka plant exempt from gun law

Georgia Pacific’s paper mill in Palatka is joining two Orlando theme parks which claim they are exempt from a new state law allowing employees to keep their guns in their cars at work.

State May Be Getting A Touch Blue

Is Florida turning blue?

Or just slightly bluish? Or even just a less reddish shade of purple?

COLUMN:  Is Florida being run by utter imposters?

A fellow from Clearwater named Bob Hurt wants to inform you that since the year 2000, the government of the state of Florida has been essentially invalid.

State Jail System Pitched As Way To Cut Prison Population

The secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections is proposing a state jail system for prison inmates serving less than 18 months behind bars.

As he ran, case was built

While Lou Pearlman flew around the world in high style last year, the investigators charged with bringing him to justice never left Central Florida. They were stuck in Tampa and Orlando, digging through boxes of bank records, trying to decipher just how a music mogul managed to put together one of the biggest financial frauds Florida has seen — and keep it going for more than two decades.

Potential Levee Costs Put Flood Protection on Hold in Louisiana

Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has put off deciding how to spend $300 million for flood-protection projects in case the money is needed for the New Orleans-area’s levee bills.

NCOIL Members Blast NAIC OII Stance

State legislators from around the country, who met here, roundly criticized state insurance regulators for giving conditional support to Congress’ move to create an Office of Insurance Information.

NCOIL Reaffirms State Regulation Of Insurance Scoring

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) Property-Casualty Insurance committee has voted to approve a resolution supporting the state regulation of the use of credit information in insurance.

Insurers To Lobby Treasury For Excise Tax Delay

Insurance industry officials will meet with Treasury tax officials tomorrow and urge them to delay or rescind Internal Revenue Service guidance requiring domestic insurers to pay an excise tax every time a premium is ceded to a foreign insurer or reinsurer.

Allstate Settles Bad Faith Case That Led To Sanctions

A Missouri lawsuit, which exposed Allstate to more than $7 million in fines and embroiled the company in a long-running battle to keep secret a report advising it on claims handling, has been settled.

Allstate Accused Of Leaving Homeowners Dry

Calif. Homeowners Say They Were Misled Into Being Underinsured – And Weren’t In “Good Hands”

When wildfires swept through Jack and Patricia Bennett’s Rancho Bernardo home last October, everything they owned was reduced to ash.

California:  State considers pay-as-you-drive auto insurance

An alliance of insurance companies and environmentalists wants to bring a new kind of mileage-based auto insurance to California and charge motorists only for the number of miles actually driven.

Who can afford nanny insurance?

Like most of my friends here in the cozy, progressive-minded state of California, I believe American health care is a national disgrace. I believe it’s an outrage that 50 million Americans lack health insurance and that care for the insured is so often refused, or else insufficient or just plain sloppy.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to ccochran@cftlaw.com